UN says hundreds of child soldiers freed in South Sudan

Child soldiers listen to a speech after being released from a group called the Cobra Faction and from the main SPLA/IO rebel faction during a ceremony in Tenet, near Pibor, on October 26, 2016. The UN children's agency UNICEF said on October 26, 2016 it had negotiated the release of 145 child soldiers from two rebel groups in South Sudan. UNICEF estimates that around 16,000 children are currently fighting or working as porters with armed groups in South Sudan, including the national army. It says that more than 800 have been recruited this year alone. / AFP PHOTO /

More than 300 child soldiers have been released in South Sudan's war-torn region of Yambio, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

The aid agency said the initiative was under a programme to help reintegrate them into society.

Of the 311 children freed by armed groups, 87 were girls, the UN Mission in South Sudan said.